Dual-patriotism

This August I will have been a Permanent Legal Resident of the United States for 11 years. What does that mean? This post will have very little to do with MD or Christianity. However, the 4th of July appears to be a day of reflection for many people, so I thought I would join the crowd and throw in my two cents before I go to my bbq.

I googled the definition of Patriotism and got the following "love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it".

In Denmark we really don't give the word patriotism a lot of thought, we are content, proud, and conceited. Sometimes I think about Denmark as the Shire in the Lord of the Rings, and the Danes as Hobbits. We are private, nice, warm, and fuzzy, but if you threaten our way of life, we become fierce, and you do not want to get in our way.

Moving to America actually posed more of a problem for me than I initially thought it would. I considered myself a world traveler, I had after all circled the globe, lived a year in Belgium, and spent a significant amount of time in America. There should be no problems.

Apparently I was more of a Hobbit than I thought, I wished to continue my way of life, and expected everyone around me to adjust to that, I mean it is a no brainer that the Danish way is the way!.

For the longest time I considered myself a visitor in America, and I would get annoyed with the displays of so called Patriotism. Just putting up a flag does not make you a patriot, and if you are as awesome as you think you are, why do you have to display it all the time?. Why do you have to constantly make up songs telling the world how awesome you are? If you are that awesome you really shouldn't have to toot your own horn.

I am not sure when I realized that I have become a dual-patriot. But I remember once fairly recently when Tom and I visited Denmark, that I referred to America as home. I had for way to long imagined Denmark as the Shire and America as just a place I lived, but slowly, I had changed, and I never even noticed the change, I had started to feel at home outside the Shire.

Some people will claim that dual-patriotism does not exist, you cannot love two countries equally. I feel sorry for those people because you can. Do you love your second child any less than your first? I love the Shire with all my heart and all my soul, and I think the coziness and sense of collective responsibility allows for a form of social security and happiness that is hard to parallel. However, I have also come to love this huge country called America with all its faults and socioeconomic inequalities. There is a kindness and strength in the American people that I can only ever hope to mirror. The American people will stand together in time of crisis, it does not matter if you are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or none of the above. When tragedy strikes, both on a national or local level, the true nature comes out. If you have cancer, your church will hold fundraisers to help you pay for your medical bills. If a hurricane strikes, the entire nation will stand together to help out. To me that is true kindness, true love for your country and its people, and that is why I am proud to fly the American flag today. What I considered tooting your own horn, is really a well deserved expression of pride. I am a dual-patriot, Denmark was my first home, and will always be my first love, and if you ever think about beating Denmark in soccer this Hobbit will come out of her cave!. America has shown me what true compassion and beauty is, we have reason to be proud!

Happy Birthday America!


P

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